Fake news, fake data

Some people have called 2016 the year of fake news. False articles with gripping headlines about everything from the demise of Taco Bell to Hillary Clinton’s selling weapons to ISIS took social media by storm. Millions of people clicked, read, and shared these stories that had no basis in fact.

But it’s not just the articles that can be false. Many fake news sites use bad data or misleading graphs. Even mainstream media outlets are guilty of creating graphs that exaggerate or understate results. Bad graphs and inaccurate data can cause readers to draw the wrong conclusions.

These invented stories supported by bad data are part of a new trend. Fake news websites—many with official-sounding names and professional-looking designs—are multiplying. Experts warn that fake news sites are weakening the public’s ability to distinguish between fact and fiction.

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Action for Media Education (AME) is a non-profit organization. We’ve been trailblazers in the development of media literacy programs since our incorporation in 1991. Our team includes parents and experts in education, journalism, mass communications, and community health.
We see media education as a vital element of literacy due to the barrage of media messages aimed at us every day. See where we ’ve been, who we are, and how we can work together.

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